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A Vacation Rental Is Less Expensive

Renting a vacation home instead of a hotel comes with many perks, even more so when the house you rent is part of a vacation resort community like Windsor Hills.

When you compare the costs of a hotel to a vacation rental home you get A Lot More value from a vacation home. You save even more when you consider how many rooms you’d need to get for larger families or multiple families getting together.

Ordering room service and dining at hotel restaurants can be pricey and limiting. Vacation homes offer kitchens and the freedom to cook your own meals. Don’t want to cook? You still have the option of going out to eat or if you want to treat yourselves, our management company also offers the service of private chefs.

Possibly the biggest budget saver of all is the fully equipped kitchen. Here you and your family won’t need to run out to the restaurants for each and every meal.

You’ll also be able to keep a fridge and cabinets full of snacks, and have your favorite coffee and any other drinks you’d like at a moment’s notice. Better yet, your own kitchen can be a lifesaver if anyone in your family has special dietary needs.

You Have A Lot More Space

In a hotel you and your family or friends you would all be spread out among several rooms, possibly even on different sides of the building. Meaning someone needs to be the organizer and get everyone together for meals and outings. Here, having everyone under one roof lets you all stay together, and makes organizing meals and family events go a lot smoother.

The Villa has 6 bedrooms and two indoor seating areas and one outdoor seating area, giving you and your family plenty of space to spread out, relax and enjoy each others company. If you need a little personal space or time to yourself each of the bedrooms has a TV with internet apps and a blue-ray player so you can have all the quiet time you need.

You’ll also have many comfortable places to hang out as a group — the living room, around a dining table, watching a movie in the Family room, or hanging out under the covered lanai by your own private heated in-ground pool and spa. There are many places for everyone to sit, relax and catch up.

The shared, private spaces make family vacations much more intimate and memorable. It’s an experience you really could never get from a hotel.

The villa is the largest floor plan in Windsor Hills, making it ideal for accommodating a reunion of both family and friends.

You Have A Lot More Privacy

Renting a vacation rental home brings vacationing to a whole other level. No more knocks from housekeeping or noisy neighbors sharing a wall. You have A LOT more privacy and tranquility in a vacation home. In a hotel the only way you can get your group together is by either cramming everyone into one room or everyone getting together in a common area shared with the rest of the hotel guests.

Nothing beats being able to have the entire group spending time together all under one roof. Whether everyone is hanging out by your private pool, hanging out in the great room watching a movie, enjoying a relaxing meal together under the covered lanai or at the dinner table. You are sure to have one of the best and most memorable vacations ever when you stay at the villa.

Family vacations used to include kids bickering over who got which side of the bed and what to watch on the only TV in the hotel room. In the Villa there’s a TV in every bedroom so there’s no shortage of TVs. In fact each kid could have their own bedroom!

Mom and Dad will definitely get their own room – Privacy at last!

Many Many More Amenities

Not only do you have lots of amenities that a hotel would never be able to offer but you also have complete access to all the amenities of the Windsor Hills community. It’s like having the best of both worlds.

Your Own Kitchen

The Villa has a large kitchen with every major appliance you would expect and a few treats you wouldn’t expect. Some of those treats include a waffle maker, popcorn maker, rice cooker/steamer and a hot dog cooker.

Your Own Pool and Spa

It’s great to have a pool that you can use during your vacation, it’s even better when it’s your own private pool and spa. You can enjoy your pool as many times as you want and at any time of the day you’d like (the pool and spa also light up so you can swim at night).

Your Own Laundry Room

In order to make your stay in the Villa as pleasant as possible we wanted to make sure your vacation wasn’t spent constantly doing laundry. The Villa has a brand new extra capacity washer and dryer giving you the ability to do all your laundry in fewer loads!

Your Own Game Room

Now not all vacation rentals have this but in Villa By The Castle, you also have your own game room. It’s a great way to connect with family and friends without having to go out for entertainment. Villa By The Castle has a pool table, foosball, air hockey, a dartboard and a small putting green.

Being able to play a game whenever you feel like it is one of the many perks that set renting a home apart from just renting a hotel room.

Your Own BBQ Grill

Nothing says vacation more than grilling with family and friends. Again, not all vacation homes have this but at Villa By The Castle we offer the use of the 5 burner BBQ grill and propane free of charge. Many vacation rentals will charge extra for that option, we figured it should be included free with your stay.

If you are staying at a hotel some do have a grill you can use… but you will be eating in a shared outdoor space… and if you time it right the grill will be available and you won’t be sharing your table with other groups.

With this vacation rental home the BBQ is right outside the sliding glass doors, under the covered lanai. You’ll be able to grill whatever and whenever you want.

Why Is Renting A Vacation Home Better Than A Hotel?

There are quite a few reasons but the top two in my book are cost and flexibility.

Renting a vacation home in a resort community like Windsor Hills gives you the amenities that a hotel would along with a vacation experience that hotel’s would never be able to match. For less money than you’s spend in hotel rooms for your group you get a much better vacation.

The other thing is flexibility, you can eat when you want go to the pool whenever you want and all without having to leave your vacation rental.

A shortcut from Windsor Hills to Disney may seem to be a strange topic since Windsor Hills is so incredibly close to the Disney entrance, but depending on what time of day and year you go to Disney you may encounter some traffic.

The secret to getting into Disney while avoiding the traffic is Sherberth Road, by using Sherberth Road you will avoid all the regular Disney traffic.

Getting From Windsor Hills To Sherberth Road

When exiting the main entrance of Windsor Hills make a left onto Old Wilson Road

Make another left on Route 192

Make a right on Sherberth Road. Use the IHop on your right as a landmark, once you see it Sherberth will be the next road you can make a right on.

Getting From Sherberth To Disney

Once you make the right on to Sherberth Road, here’s how you get to the different Disney Parks:

They’ll be a slight left hand bend in the road and after that it’s a straight away for a little over half a mile (~1 km). Remember to slow down at the end of the straight away, you’ll be coming up to a lot of sharp turns.

You’ll quickly come to a sharp left hand bend

Followed by a sharp right hand bend (speed limit 30)

Another left hand bend

Followed quickly by another sharp right hand bend

On that bend, there is a Disney sign on the right (you can’t miss it) saying “All Guest Areas Turn Right”. This is Exactly one mile along Sherberth Road.

Make that right-hand turn onto ‘Osceola Parkway’

Merge with the other lanes on the left (speed limit 40)

Animal Kingdom – Once you’ve merged, make your way into the left lane, for the other parks carry on ahead.

All Stars Resort & Blizzard Beach will be the next turn on the right, for other parks keep going straight (Speed Limit 45)

If you need to buy Disney Park tickets (or any of the area’s theme parks for that matter) while you are staying at Windsor Hills, you can call Joseph Ortiz. Joseph is from guest relations and can answer any questions you have about tickets, the parks and area information.

You can find Joseph at the guest relations desk or give him a call at +1 (407) 787-4254

You can also call Kissimmee Guest Services at +1 (877) 273-5636 or The Official Ticket Center at +1 (877) 406-4836 or +1 (877) 396-9020

Please be careful where you buy your tickets from. There are people and companies in the area who sell fake tickets.

Only buy tickets from a reputable source.

Saving Money When Buying The Tickets

You can save yourself a bundle if you are planning on being in Disney more than 1 day. If you buy the multi-day passes you will save a good percentage on the additional days and the parking fee ($20 per car) is waived for each day.

The Disney App

Disney has an App that you can install on your smart phone which makes navigating the Disney parks much easier. It has a map of the parks with the different points of interest, showing you the wait times at each of the attractions and it gives you the ability to make reservations at the different restaurants.

]]>Walt Disney World FastPass+http://villabythecastle.com/walt-disney-world-fastpass/
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They’ve changed things again at Walt Disney World, they’ve changed the FastPass to the new FastPass+ system. Now your RFID card or MagicBand. You will no longer see the cast members checking if the paper tickets time matches your reservation. There is never any overlapping for guests to double book a reservation.

Disney came up with FastPass in 1999 as a way to distribute the crowds evenly throughout the parks. It was so popular that Disney came up with another level called FastPass+. FastPass+ has been around since January 2014.

Notes on Disney’s FastPass+

You need to plan ahead

During your stay at the Villa you can plan your FastPass+ reservations 30 days in advance.

Each guest is allowed three pre-planned reservations in one park per day.

After you use up the three reservations for the day, you can reserve one additional ride at a time. Providing the reservation is used. You’ll be able to keep doing that, but it’s only one reservation at a time.

FastPass is free with each ticket you purchase.

You can request a specific time or let it suggest a time for you.

The reservation window lasts for an hour. Meaning you have a 60 minute window to arrive for your reservation otherwise your reservation is cancelled.

When you arrive at the ride you’ll need to validate your reservation using your RFID card or MagicBand.

You can do your same day scheduling at the kiosk stations. There are several found though-out the park, some of the lines will be long!

You can only do one pre-planned reservation per attraction. If you want to ride more than once, you’ll have to wait on the standard line.

You can also make reservations for the parades, fireworks, character meet and greets and even Fantasmic.

Here are some recommendations for the different Disney parks:

Magic Kingdom

Anna/Elsa

Mine Train

Space/Splash/Thunder Mountain

Epcot

Soarin

Hollywood Studios

Tower of Terror

Toy Story Mania

Star Tours

Animal Kingdom

Expedition Everest

Safari

Kali River Rapids

Festival of the Lion King

How To Make FastPass+ Reservations

When you’re at the park you can use the Kiosks

To make your reservations ahead of time you can use the My Disney Experience Mobile App. Just create an account after you’ve purchased your tickets to make your reservations. You can do this up to 30 days prior to your visit.

Windsor Hills or Emerald Island?

Windsor Hills or Emerald Island? That is a really tough question to answer if you’re only basing it on pictures you see on websites. I realized today that many times when potential guests are comparing vacation rental communities in the various vacation areas surrounding Disney and the Orlando/Kissimmee area, they are assuming that the communities are very similar. If you’ve never been to the communities, I think it’s a really easy assumption to make.

In our case, when were looking for a house to buy close to Disney we were definitlely assuming the communities would be pretty similar. After visiting all the communities located close to Disney, we were really surprised to find that there are very clear differences between all of them.

I’m writing these articles in an effort to show the differences that we found between the different resorts – in this case between Windsor Hills Resort and Emerald Island Resort.

Although my opinion will probably be a bit biased, I’m going to do my best to make a fair a comparison of what each resort offers and lacks.

When comparing the types of houses found in both resorts, Windsor Hills houses are newer and go up to 6 bedrooms. If you need to have 7 bedrooms, then Emerald Island would be the community that would fit your needs. Although, houses like ours do also offer you the option of using a pull out couch, sleeping up to a total of 14 people in our 6 bedroom house.

Full disclosure: We have a home that we ended up purchasing in Windsor Hills after looking at all the resorts in the area. We also rent out our vacation home for others to enjoy, so this article will be biased toward Windsor Hills. Please also keep in mind that when we were looking for a vacation house to buy we were making the same evaluations that you’re making for a vacation, and likely using the same criteria, so the fact we chose Windsor Hills should tell you something.

The Windsor Hills And Emerald Island Similarities

Both Windsor Hills and Emerald Island are close to Disney. Windsor Hills is 1.5 miles away from and Emerald Island is 3 miles away from Disney. Although Windsor Hills is closer to Disney they are both very close to the Disney Parks.

Both Communities are well established, Emerald Island has been around a little longer than Windsor Hills but both communities are very clean and well maintained.

Which Resort Has More Amenities? Windsor Hills or Emerald Island?

Both the communities offer many of the same amenities, both of the resorts offer pools, fitness centers and playgrounds but as you’ll see later not all the checks on the list below are created equal.

Here’s an item by item comparison of what the two resorts offer, with Windsor Hills Amenities listed on the left and Emerald Island Amenities listed on the right.

Windsor Hills

Amenity

Emerald Island

✓

Gated 24 Hour Security

✓

✓

Community Pool

✓

✓

Clubhouse

✓

✓

Community Hot Tub

✓

✓

Fitness Center

✓

✓

Arcade

✓

✓

Internet Cafe

✓

✓

Tennis Courts

✓

✓

Basketball Court

✓

✓

Tiki Bar

✓

✓

Playgrounds

✓

✓

Sand Volleyball

✓

✓

Picnic Area

✓

✗

Nature Walk

✓

✓

Movie Theater

✗

✓

Ping Pong Tables

✗

✓

Water Slide

✗

✓

Dancing Waters

✗

✓

Putting Green

✗

Which Resort Has The Better Amenities? Windsor Hills Or Emerald Island?

As you can see above, both Windsor Hills and Emerald Island share a similar list of amenities. Now let’s see how some of the amenities compare to each other.

Windsor Hills And Emerald Island Pool – The Comparison

Compare Pools – Windsor Hills & Emerald Island

Both Windsor Hills and Emerald Island have community pools, but are they the same? In my opinion Windsor Hills pool is better for more age groups than the Emerald Island pool is.

The Best Pool For Toddlers and Small Children

Out of the two Windsor Hills offers the best experience for little children and toddlers. The pool is a zero entry lagoon style pool so toddlers can play in the shallow park of the pool without worries. There is also a dancing waters area that little kids love to go back and forth in the warm Florida sun.

The Best Pool For Older Kids

Not only is Windsor Hills a better pool for the little ones it’s also a better experience for the older kids. In fact I’d say it’s probably even a better experience for them. Windsor Hills has a two story spiral water slide which Kids and adults a like love to slide down from.

Which Pool Is Better?

In my mind there is no question that Windsor Hills has the better pool for every member of the family young and old. Between the shallow areas and dancing waters for the littlest members of the family, the water slide for the older kids and the kids at heart and just the shear size of Windsor Hills’ double Olympic sized pool there really is no comparison.

The Emerald Island pool to me didn’t feel much bigger than the pool at our house, I think they have the pool for the guests that are in the condos. I don’t think there are many guests with private pools spending time at the community pool because it’s not that much larger then the private pools.

Amenities That Aren’t Offered

So far we’ve been comparing the amenities side by side but there are some amenities that the other resort doesn’t even offer.

For example, one thing that Emerald Island does have which Windsor Hills is missing is a nature trail.

Emerald Island doesn’t have a themed castle playground, a movie theater or a putting green.

Which Is Better? Windsor Hills or Emerald Island?

Which is better Windsor Hills or Emerald Island? When trying to compare resort communities in the end which is better all depends on what you are looking for.

If you are looking for a resort that is cheaper and don’t care about the amenities that the resort offers then Emerald Island is probably the resort you are looking for.

Since Emerald Island is a little older the houses are more dated and the resort itself has more wear and tear. Not to mention I think Windsor Hills does a better job of maintaining the resort.

However, if you are looking for the best value or bang for the buck, I’d say hands down Windsor Hills gives you the most for the price.

If you’re looking for a resort that makes you feel like you are in a resort and not a residential development then Windsor Hills would be the right choice.

If you want to be as close as possible to Disney then again Windsor Hills would be the choice for you.

Windsor Hills or Formosa Gardens?

Windsor Hills or Formosa Gardens? Whenever doing comparisons of different resorts it always depends on what you are looking for. Both are really nice but provide very different experiences. If you want to have your next Disney vacation in a resort community then Windsor Hills is the place you want to be. If you are looking for a place to stay, will not take advantage of the resort amenities or are looking for a larger house with more space between the houses then Formosa Gardens would be the right choice for you.

Full disclosure: Although my opinion may be a bit biased because our vacation rental is in Windsor Hills, I’m going to do my best to make a fair a comparison of what each resort offers and lacks. After all, it’s in our best interest to make sure our guests choose Windsor Hills because it’s the right fit for them. We purchased in Windsor Hills after looking at all the communities in the area. We also rent out our vacation home for others to enjoy, so this article will be biased toward Windsor Hills. Please also keep in mind that when we were looking for a vacation house to buy we were making the same evaluations that you’re making for a vacation and likely using the same criteria, so the fact we chose Windsor Hills should tell you something.

The Houses

When comparing the types of houses found in both communities, Windsor Hills homes are newer and go up to 6 bedrooms. If you need to have a larger house then Formosa Gardens may be the community that would fit your needs. Although houses like ours do also offer you the option of using a pull out couch, sleeping up to a total of 14 people in our 6 bedroom house.

The houses in Windsor Hills are newer, Windsor Hills was built in 2005 (our vacation rental was built in 2006)

The houses in Formosa Gardens are more spaced out from each other. Since Formosa Gardens is more like a long term living community the houses are more spaced out.

Windsor Hills was designed for vacations so the houses are closed together. Although our house does have houses on either side of it the way the pool decks are laid out you don’t feel like your neighbors are all that close. We also have privacy bushes installed around our pool to give it a more private feel.

Which Resort Has More Amenities? Windsor Hills or Formosa Gardens?

This is a short comparison, basically if you are looking for community resort amenities and are trying to decide between Windsor Hills and Formosa Gardens, Windsor Hills is the right choice. Formosa Gardens does not offer any community amenities.

If you are looking for a vacation rental house in a community with a vacation feel then not only is Windsor Hills the right choice when compared with Formosa Gardens it’s usually the right choice when compared with the other resort communities in the area.

Below is an item by item comparison with Windsor Hills Amenities listed on the left and Formosa Gardens listed on the right. It’s really there to show you what amenities you would have in Windsor Hills.

This is a short comparison, basically if you are looking for community resort amenities and are trying to decide between Windsor Hills and Formosa Gardens, Windsor Hills is the right choice. Formosa Gardens does not offer any community amenities.

If you are looking for a vacation rental house in a community with a vacation feel then not only is Windsor Hills the right choice when compared with Formosa Gardens it’s usually the right choice when compared with the other resort communities in the area.

Below is an item by item comparison with Windsor Hills Amenities listed on the left and Formosa Gardens listed on the right. It’s really there to show you what amenities you would have in Windsor Hills.

Windsor Hills

Amenity

Formosa Gardens

✓

Gated 24 Hour Security

✗

✓

Community Pool

✗

✓

Clubhouse

✗

✓

Community Hot Tub

✗

✓

Fitness Center

✗

✓

Arcade

✗

✓

Internet Cafe

✗

✓

Tennis Courts

✗

✓

Basketball Court

✗

✓

Tiki Bar

✗

✓

Playgrounds

✗

✓

Sand Volleyball

✗

✓

Picnic Area

✗

✗

Nature Walk

✗

✓

Movie Theater

✗

✓

Ping Pong Tables

✗

✓

Water Slide

✗

✓

Dancing Waters

✗

✓

Putting Green

✗

Which Resort Has The Better Amenities? Windsor Hills Or Formosa Gardens?

This part is an easy comparison since Formosa Gardens doesn’t provide community amenities.

All the pictures below are amenities that Windsor Hills has available to you as a guest in our vacation rental.

Which Is Better? Windsor Hills or Formosa Gardens?

Which is better Windsor Hills or Formosa Gardens? When trying to compare communities, in the end, of course, which is better always depends on what you are looking for.

If you are looking for a community that feels more like you are living in Florida with a bit more space between the houses and you are not interested in amenities then Formosa Gardens would be a better choice for you.

However, if you’re looking for a resort that makes you feel like you are in a resort and not a residential development or if resort amenities are a factor in your choice then Windsor Hills would be the right choice.

Both Formosa Gardens and Windsor Hills are pretty close to each other, but if you want to be as close as possible to Disney then Windsor Hills would be the choice for you.

There are a ton of Windsor Hills / Disney area restaurants to choose from. One thing that the Disney area has is a lot of tourists. Where you find a lot of tourists you usually find great restaurants, and thankfully that is true of the Disney area restaurants.

Because the area gets so many visitors year round, there is no shortage of amazing restaurants to choose from. And since Windsor Hills is in the heart of it all, you will be close to many of Kissimmee’s fantastic restaurants.

Whether you are looking for fine five star dining with the family or a quick bite to eat on your way to the parks, you don’t need to travel very far to find good food.

You have plenty of really great restaurants within Disney itself, and even more outside the theme parks. Chain restaurants, fine dining, BBQ, casual dining, fast food, Asian, Italian, French – it’s all here!

Bottom line is during your Windsor Hills vacation you will find more restaurants than there are meals during your stay.

Here’s just a small sampling of the Kissimmee/Orlando area restaurants:

The closest beaches to Disney/Orlando/Kissimme are not that far away. So during your vacation you may want a break from the theme parks, one of the best day trips you can do is to head to the beaches (of course that is only if you have a car). That’s because Florida has some of the best white sand beaches around. From Orlando and WDW, both the west coast and east coast beaches are within driving distance and each has it’s perks.

On the East side you have ocean beaches which are on the Atlantic Ocean and on the West side you have beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico has warmer waters, whiter beaches and calmer waters. The Atlantic Ocean beaches have cooler waters, darker colored sand, more waves and are generally thirty minutes to an hour closer than the gulf beaches.

If you have never seen the ocean before than Florida’s ocean beaches may be the right place to experience it. Here we’ve listed some of the closest beaches To Disney.

Cocoa Beach – The Space Coast

Not only is Cocoa beach one of the closest beaches to Disney, it’s also right next to Cape Canaveral. Cocoa beach is a fantastic place to watch the space shuttle from Cape Canaveral being launched. This is an excellent experience for young and old alike.

Something in the area that’s fun for the kids (and adults) is the Kennedy Space Center. It’s a great day trip with all kinds of things to do and learn.

Daytona Beach

Distance to Daytona Beach: 77 miles (123 km)

Travel Time: 80 minutes

This is one of the most popular beaches on Florida’s east coast. You can try surfing, fishing, sail boarding, water skiing, swim and drive on the beach! You may want to stay away from Daytona beach if your vacation is in February because of the Daytona 500. It’s a very popular event in the area and Daytona beach gets really crowded during that time of year. Google Maps Directions From Villa By The Castle To Daytona beach

Clearwater Beach Restaurants

One of our favorite restaurants in Clearwater is Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill. It’s located right in front of the beach and has a great relaxed beach atmosphere.

So Which Is The Closest Beach To Disney And Orlando?

The short answer to which is the closest beach to Disney would be Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The other beaches however are not that much further. Depending on what you are looking for in a beach going the extra distance may seem worth it to you.

Welcome To The Villa!

Welcome to Villa by the Castle, your family’s Disney vacation home away from home. Villa by the Castle is a large, spacious, 2,812 Sq. Ft. house located in the exclusive Windsor Hills resort community. In fact the villa is one of the largest homes in Windsor Hills so you and your family will have plenty of room for everyone to spread out and relax after a day out at the parks.

The house has been professionally decorated with a lot of attention toward what will make your vacation special.

Because of its design, layout and location, this home is great many different types of groups. Whether you’re planning a vacation for your family, a couple of families will be vacationing together, you’re planning a golf getaway with your golfing friends, you’re an executive that’s relocating, a business traveler, or planning an extended family reunion – you’ll find the house will feel very comfortable and will have everything you would want for a fantastic Orlando vacation.

With 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a heated, south-west facing, covered lanai and screened in pool and spa this house has everything you need during your vacation and it’s less than 2 miles from the Disney World Entrance! You’ll be vacationing in the closest community to the Disney World theme parks. You’ll be so close to Disney you can go to the parks in the day come home and have a dip in the pool then return to Disney for the fireworks.

Not only is the Villa’s location to the theme parks amazing, the Villa’s location in Windsor Hills is also fantastic, because you will be a short walk away from all the amenities that Windsor Hills offers.

As our guest you will have access to all of Windsor Hills’ Amenities free of charge during your entire stay at the Villa.

From the moment you step in the front door, you will instantly feel on vacation. You will have the comforts and convenience of your own home and the amenities your vacation deserves.